Rock Band 3: Blurring the Line

I’m sure at some point you’ve been to a party (or gathering, if you’re old) where someone had Rock Band. If not, the terrorists have already won. What caps off an already brilliant event? Your own personal full band karaoke set up. Nothing more fun than watching friends and family slam on the drums or scream nonsense into a microphone.

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Baseball Mogul 2011 – toy of the week

I’ve been a big fan of the Baseball Mogul franchise for many years as I’ve always felt it married fun and complexity in the most user-friendly way possible. This year’s version added what I consider the last big piece to the puzzle: free agency bidding. [Continue Reading…]

Holiday Gift Guide 2009: sports pack

Here’s the thing about sports games: they are an illness. You can spend days and weeks turning your team into a dynasty only to dump them and start from scratch with a whole new team. You spend hours stocking your farm system with players who will likely never see a major league pitch. You waste time downloading roster updates, playbooks and new team logos because you’re obsessed with accuracy. You spend more time in this fantasy world than you do following real life sports. You are sick. So am I.

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Super Awesome Day 2009 Holiday Gift Guide

If Christmas has taught us anything, it’s that gifts are an extremely important measure of one’s self worth. Super Awesome Day, now in its fifth awesome year, is even more focused on commerce. Its convenient location on the calendar a full 24 hours after December 25th makes it ideally suited for last minute shopping.

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Byzantine Empire in Europa Universalis, part 6

Several wars later, the Byzantine Empire (“New Rome” didn’t test well, according to our marketing department) secured the Balkans, wrapped around the Eastern Mediterranean coast, and stretched to Tunisia. I settled in to assimilating these new provinces and contentedly watching Europe devour its children. Spain thrashed Aragon and, unsurprisingly, Portugal. England tamed Scotland, Eire and Brittany. France pushed into Central Europe. Sweden conquered Scandinavia.

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Detroit Lions campaign in Football Mogul, part 4

My fans (gauged by the game’s fan loyalty index) are happier with the team now that we’ve shown a propensity not to suck (frequent Stafford picks notwithstanding). We all know what that means. Higher ticket prices.

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Madden 2010 Campaign, Part 3

In a normal season, an undefeated start would be cause for celebration.  However, a closer look at the Buffalo Bills defensive statistics reveals a troubling trend developing.  The Bills, while 2-0, are currently ranked 31st in the NFL in passing yards allowed.  Determined to fix something that isn’t currently broken, Dick Jauron sprung into action.

“With Drew Brees coming into town next week, we need to find a way to put more pressure on the quarterback”

So you are saying you’d like me to make a trade?

“I’ve got the perfect guy in mind”

Who?

“Vernon Gholston”

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Detroit Lions campaign in Football Mogul, part 3

Mike Stafford is not progressing as well as I’d hoped. He’s got two seasons under his belt, solid receivers, and a line that’s giving him a little time in the pocket. My scouts say his abilities have shown only marginal improvement. This is bad because I don’t have a high enough draft pick to shop for a new QB. It’s also bad because, as he reminds me in practice, his name is Matt, not Mike.

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Byzantine Empire in Europa Universalis, part 5

It’s difficult to explain to your 15th century kingdom what a crash to desktop error is. Needless to say, they learned a little French as we deja-vu-ed ourselves into Mamluk territory again. Things didn’t go quite as well this time. [Continue Reading…]

Detroit Lions campaign in Football Mogul, part 2

After the season, I scouted the free agent market. The Falcons let Matt Ryan go. Wow. All he did was throw for 3000+ and 20+ TDs. I can see why they didn’t renew his contract. How dare he not throw for 4000+ and 30+ TDs. In Baseball Mogul, there is a global modifier to set for player movement. You can set it so that teams are less likely to trade or release talented, young players. Why is this feature not in Football Mogul? I don’t know.

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